Katie Holmes Says She's Studying Scientology

Katie Holmes says she is embracing the tenets of Scientology, the religion of her boyfriend, Tom Cruise.

The Batman Begins star, 26, in London to promote her new film, was asked at a news conference Monday if she is taking lessons in the Church of Scientology, a controversial religion founded by science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard.

“Yes, I am, and I’m really excited about it,” she replied, as reported by the Associated Press.

The statement goes one step further than her announcement last week, when Holmes told TV’s Access Hollywood that when it comes to Scientology, she has looked into it “and I really like it. … I feel like I’m bettering myself.”

At the London gathering, Holmes also dismissed scoffers who have accused the couple of staging a relationship for publicity of their new movies. (Cruise, 42, opens in War of the Worlds later this month.)

“It doesn’t hurt me at all,” replied Holmes. “There are a lot of people really, really happy for us. It’s really exciting. We are so happy. I don’t really care about the critics.”

Cruise, meanwhile, was in Tokyo on Monday, promoting his new movie. At a press conference there, he was asked about reports that because of his belief in Scientology, he had asked Holmes to drop out of a movie called Factory Girl – about doomed socialite Edie Sedgwick and artist Andy Warhol – because of the drug use in the story. Replied Cruise: “I don’t even know what Factory Girl is.”

He added: “Listen, the thing you’ve got to know about Katie is that she’s an incredibly bright and self-determined woman. She makes her own decisions.”